Members of the press are invited to attend. Interview opportunities available.
WHO: IRC Workers Unite-OPEIU (IRCWU) members employed at 13 unionized International Rescue Committee locations fighting for a fair contract.
WHERE: International Rescue Committee Headquarters
122 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10168
WHEN: Monday, August 25, 2025
8 AM ET
RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/irc-workers-unite-rally-for-a-fair-contract?source=direct_link&
BACKGROUND: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global nonprofit founded in 1933 by Albert Einstein that provides critical employment, education, legal, medical and resettlement services to refugees and immigrants. There are 28 offices throughout the United States. In 2023, IRC workers in Dallas formed the first IRC union at a U.S. location in the nonprofit's history. Since then, IRC workers have grown their campaign with OPEIU to 13 unionized offices across the country, comprising nearly 700 workers.
IRC workers organized in response to unsafe working conditions, unmanageable caseloads, sub-living wages and a lack of any meaningful voice in the decision-making process in their workplace. These conditions ultimately led to IRC staff being unable to provide the quality of service their refugee and immigrant clients desperately need, especially while facing unprecedented attacks from the Trump administration. IRC workers' fight for a fair first contract is their fight for the future of IRC and the well-being of their clients.
Due to the targeting of federal funds used for refugee services, IRC has faced multiple rounds of layoffs and anticipates additional layoffs in September 2025. Nobody is more impacted by funding shortages and layoffs than the front-line staff of IRC and the clients they serve. We are calling on IRC leadership to reach a meaningful layoff agreement at the bargaining table to prevent leaving the vast majority of staff in a state of precarity as we approach the deadline for state and federal grant renewals in September. Additionally, IRC leadership verbally rejected the majority of the IRCWU’s economic proposals at a recent bargaining session without a reasonable counteroffer. IRC’s executive leadership makes a collective $5 million while most front-line staff are forced to work multiple jobs just to put food on the table.
IRC and the critical services it provides to the refugee and immigrant community would not exist without its staff. IRC leadership has a moral and ethical obligation to live by their stated values and bargain in good faith toward a meaningful agreement that ensures security for employees and their clients during this time of crisis. IRC Workers Unite-OPEIU has made a clear demand of IRC leadership: negotiate a fair contract that guarantees living wages and strong layoff protections by Sept. 1.
JOIN US: IRC Workers Unite–OPEIU is inviting allied organizations, labor unions, worker coalitions, immigrant and refugee advocacy groups, elected officials, and others to join us in standing up for humanitarian workers and the communities they serve.